Lori Hall Webboard User Reg: 06-12-2007
Posts: 1039
Loc: So. California coast
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Ok, I'm so curious what everyone thinks about this. Did anyone see the dog on Oprah's show yesterday (and you see them on animal planet) that supposedly can multiply?! His owner swears this dog knows how to do math. She had Oprah ask the dog whatever multiplication problem she wanted and the dog would tap out the answer with it's paw. It definitely 'seems' like the dog was thinking 6 x 2 = 12 and tapping that out. But after reading Ed's article on the marker training where he says dogs don't understand words and human concepts, they only go off of your body language and tone of voice and what gets them what they want, it seems impossible to think that a dog could do math.
So, if they obviously don't know how to multiply, how do they get the problems right?
It's called the "Clever Hans Effect", named after a horse who was advertised as being able to answer any question, including math, pointing to objects, colors, etc. His act fell apart when investigators started asking him questions they didn't know the answers to.
Clever Hans used very subtle body language cues that most humans wouldn't notice, like flicking eyes, shifting body weight, and tensing/relaxing muscles to tell when he had reached the correct answer. For the effect to work, the animal has to be able to both see its audience and the audience has to know the correct answer.
I didn't see the dog on Oprah, though I did see a JRT on Pet Star a little while ago that did this. Maybe it was the same dog, lol. I was really annoyed because the cameras only showed the dog's foot tapping, over and over. What I really wanted to see, lol, was the handler, the audience, or even just the dog's eyes. I'd really like to know how to train it though. Its a really cool trick.
Lori Hall Webboard User Reg: 06-12-2007
Posts: 1039
Loc: So. California coast
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Thanks Kristin, that makes so much sense. This dog was facing the handler the whole time. Even when Oprah asked him the math problem, he was still facing the handler, not her. They didn't show much of her, the camera was of course on the dog. And the audience I'm sure was watching the dog's paw and counting, not watching the woman.
It is a slick trick though. My friend who saw it was convinced this dog count actually multiply! But we all know better!
In the case of Hans, the owner didn't intentionally deceive anyone.
Somehow the horse taught himself to read body language, and give the "correct" answer.
Han's owner sincerely did not know he was cueing Hans.
I don't know if that's the case with this dog, but it's not unlikely that the handler has no clue.
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The dog on Oprah who multiplies?
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because the cameras only showed the dog's foot tapping, over and over. What I really wanted to see, lol, was the handler, the audience, or even just the dog's eyes. I'd really like to know how to train it though. Its a really cool trick.
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